A Special Dinner at Home: Part III

Hi lovelies! I'm sure you've all been waiting with bated breath at the finale in my three-part special dinner. Let's just pretend this happened, oh I don't know, last week, instead of in ... erm ... February. Oops!

If it weren't currently approximately eight thousand degrees, I would hop to making this pasta again. It was quite possibly the best pasta I have ever had. That it came from my own hands and labor was just icing on the cake. Er, pasta.

So, for this pasta, I used Jenna's recipe.  Mine obviously didn't turn out to be goat cheese ravioli, but the pasta base is the same. I looked in my Mario Batali cookbook, which obviously had a recipe, but it was complicated and long (TWSS!) so I opted for this one instead. Since Jenna's recipe was for one person, I doubled it. (Since, you know, 1 + 1 = 2. What? I was an English major.)

I started off by adding my eggs to the volcano of flour.

And then you squish and swirl and move it around until it becomes one cohesive ball of dough.

Then, you must let it rest so the gluten can calm down. This was not a problem since I was, at the time, baking bread, making ricotta cheese, roasting asparagus and making a sauce for the mussels. So yeah, I had some time to ignore the pasta.

When I had essentially finished everything else, I got to rollin'. This took the most time, since I wanted papparadelle-like pasta--wide, really thin strands. So rolled, and rolled, and then rolled some more, until the sheets of pasta were nearly transparent.

Then I cut them into long ribbons.

And then just cook as you would packaged pasta, in salty, boiling water. However, because it's fresh, it takes about two minutes to cook, so don't walk away from the pot.

I served the pasta with a sauce made from lemon zest, garlic, shards of proscuitto and the homemade ricotta cheese I had just completed. And oh my lord was it good. Transcendent, even. It was really effing good.

So the entire meal was homemade bread, roasted asparagus, homemade pasta with homemade ricotta, mussels for Cookie Monster, and bubbly. Wow. I've just impressed myself!

Grilled Caesar Salad

I recently tried a delicious grilled caesar salad at this place near our house. Good lord, the salad was amazing! The lettuce had a lovely charred flavor and the croutons were nice and garlicky. I tried to recreate the salad at home.

I started by making my own take on caesar dressing. I combined Greek yogurt, parmesan cheese, dried parsley, lots of cracked black pepper, garlic, hot sauce and salt, then thinned it just a bit with some milk. It was pretty close!

Then I washed and dried my whole romaine lettuce leaves and grilled them on my George Foreman. This was not ideal, and I would just grill them in my cast-iron skillet or even over open flame next time. 

Finally, the croutons. This was the weakest aspect, as we only had what I call "sandwich" bread, which, in our house, is just plain ol' sliced whole wheat bread. I would've preferred ciabatta or French bread, but you gotta work with whatcha got. So I just made garlic toast with two slices of bread, using butter, minced dried garlic, season salt and parmesan cheese.

Alongside, we had some ricotta gnocchi I made a long time ago and froze. The sauce for the gnocchi was sauteed artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, garbanzo beans and parmesan cheese.

The verdict on the salad: A good first effort, but still needs work. But I'm willing to try again!

Zucchini Sticks and Pasta with Herb Sauce

Here we have a lovely zucchini straight from ChezVCK garden! Those snap peas are also from the garden!

Watch out, zucchini. I'm gonna eat you!

Here is the zucchini stick-making assembly line. Fried zucchini is a very delicious food that I would love to consume. However, eating fried food makes my pants very angry. In protest, they refuse to fit me anymore. So, I have adapted fried zucchini in a different way, making it taste like fried zucchini without actually frying it. (Ssshh... don't tell my pants.)

Instead of dredging the zuke slices in egg, as is typical, I just used a bit of vegetable stock to make sure the breading adhered. This saves some calories too!

After I dredged the zuke sticks in the veggie stock, I dipped them in a mixture of Italian bread crumbs and grated parmesan cheese.

See?
Then I put them all into neat little rows on a cookie sheet sprayed with a little cooking spray, so they won't stick.

And this is how they turned out after a short stint in a hot oven. I think it was about 15 minutes at 400 or so.
I served the zucchini sticks alongside some whole wheat pasta and a tofurkey dog. For the pasta, I made a simple pesto-like sauce. I grabbed some fresh herbs from my garden--chives, basil and oregano--and buzzed it all together in the food processor with some olive oil, veggie stock and good ol' S&P. It was really simple and really tasty. Finished with more parmesan cheese, it was done!

De-lish!

Lobster Ravioli al Fresco

Here we have some lobster ravioli I cooked up for Cookie Monster. I had some leftover pumpkin ravioli in the freezer, so that's what I made for me. I can't take credit for the lobster ravioli. Trader Joe can.


I made a simple sauce for the pasta--just browned up some butter and sauteed garlic 'til it was browned (but not burned!) and tossed the pasta lightly in that. I served the pasta with some steamed broccoli (not shown since Cookie Monster had already eaten it!). I grated some parmesan cheese over the top and voila! A delectable, delicious and delightful dinner.


It was actually nice outside for a change, so we dined al fresco! Note the fallen tree in the background. That fell over when it was decidedly not nice outside. Granted, it was rotting, but the wind gave it that final push.

We got a bottle of this wine from a friend. It's Red Diamond cabernet sauvignon. Frankly, I didn't much like it. And this says a lot coming from me. If it's fermented grapes, I'll drink it. I'll drink Chuck Shaw. I'll drink discount store wine. Hell, I drank wine in Italy that came in a 1 qt. box for 86 cents! It tasted a lot like turpentine.

I will draw the line, however, at white zinfandel. At that point, you might as well be drinking Boone's. And if you're gonna drink Boone's, drink Boone's!




So anyway, I didn't much like this wine. It tasted kinda musty and metallic to me. But then what the hell do I know about wine? I drank turpenwine! All I know is: I didn't like it.


Dinner: Now you see it...

Now you don't!

Asian Noodles

Here are some noodles with Asian sauce I made for dinner last week. I didn't have any actual Asian noodles (such as soba noodles, which are whole wheat Japanese noodles. I actually made them one time as a high schooler in Japan, which was awesome). Anyhoo, I didn't have any Asian noodles, so I just used whole wheat spaghetti.

I made a homemade peanut sauce, loosely based on this recipe from Alton Brown. I also sauteed carrots, broccoli, onions, frozen snow peas, tempeh, tomatillos and harissa to add some spice.





I served my Asian noodles alongside some Trader Joe's Coconut Curry Chicken Stix. I mostly cooked them in the microwave, then crisped them up in the skillet. They are great; they taste nothing like coconut--just a sort-of Asian spice with chicken. I served them with, what else?, a Trader Joe's dipping sauce.

These Asian noodle bowls were oishi!


Cookie Monster does not like chopsticks; he's not that great with them. But I have a pair in our silverware drawer that I bought at Uwajimaya specifically for Asian meals. It makes it feel more authentic, even if it's really not.

My parents always used chopsticks (ohashi in Japanese) at home, and I was pretty prolific with them fairly young. My mom actually lived in Japan in the '60s--my grandpa was a civilian in the Navy but knew how to fix airplanes. He was a high-ranking official, which means he and Grandma and my mom got the all-star treatment while they were there. That's about all I know.

When I stayed with a host family in Japan and they gave me a fork, I asked them for some ohashi and impressed the hell out of them when I knew how to use them.

Baby artichokes with Pasta

Here is yet another very typical VCK dinner. Pasta and vegetables is pretty much a staple 'round these here parts. So saddle up, little doggies, and take a look-see here at this dadgum delicious grub!

As you can tell, speaking like this is totally normal for me.


This time, I paired whole wheat elbow macaroni with baby artichokes. These things are awesome! They definitely take some work, but it really pays off. The tiny leaves are inedible since they have no meat at the ends, so you just strip them all off. There is no choke, so the entire heart is what you eat. Cut off the stem, remove all the outer leaves and cut in half. Then boil or steam to al dente.


We made a very simple sauce of olive oil and bleu cheese and tossed in some halved cherry tomatoes. Paired with some garlic toast, it was done! And we called it dinner. And it was good.

Pasta with Fake Bruschetta

This was a very typical VCK meal. It was a "I don't really know what I want so let's throw some stuff with pasta and use up some stuff in the fridge while we're at it" meal. Say that 10 times fast! It was a IDRKWIWSLTSSWPAUUSSITFWWAI! Hmm, somehow I don't think it's the next "EVOO."

Anyhoo, I threw some whole wheat spaghetti in a pot and cooked to al dente. While it was cooking, I sauteed some vegetables--some fresh, some frozen--with garlic and olive oil. Hmm, looks like this day we only had fresh carrots. I used snow peas and regular peas from the freezer*. I also had some homemade tomato sauce in the fridge and wanted to use a little of that.



To accompany the pasta, I made some fake bruschetta, mostly because we had some killer bleu cheese and some tomatoes that needed to be eaten. Ok, people. It's time for a little Italian lesson. The word is BROO-SKET-TA. It's an Italian word and should be pronounced that way. I mean, you wouldn't say KAY-SA-DIL-LA, would you? You don't have to be an asshat and over-emphasize the Italian-ness of the word like Giada DiLaurentiis does, but say it right, people.

Here is the toast in the toaster oven. The glare is from my totally awesome, totally professional mad photography skillz. And it's cloudy because the toaster oven door is really dirty. I should really clean that off.

Here's a slightly less glar-ey shot. Damn, the door wasn't magically cleaned off between shots? The cheese has just started to melt. Melty cheese is one of the best substances in the free world. I think cheese should be used as currency. Well, maybe that's not such a good idea. I'd be broke and fat.


Here's the bruschetta after is came out (Remember, it's BROO-SKET-TA). See how lovely the melty, sharp cheese is, and the tomatoes are all soft and sweet? Aaaagggghhhh.



Here's the whole dinner after it came together. I grated a small amount of parmesan cheese on top of each plate for serving. You eat with your eyes first.

And voila! A quick and easy VCK dinner.


*A tip about frozen peas. Mushy peas are gross. They taste like sweat socks and feel like baby food in your mouth. To avoid this nastiness, only put the peas in at the very last minute of cooking. All they need to do is defrost, which takes approximately 27.6 seconds. Really. I timed it. ;) Really, throw them in the pot after you've turned it off and are ready to serve.

Pesto Lasagna Rolls

This was a typical VCK "we have stuff in the fridge that needs to be used up so what can I make?" meal. I had five extra whole wheat lasagna noodles leftover from the last time I made lasagna. And really, you can't make a whole lasagna with five noodles. I also had some ricotta cheese and some tomato sauce, apparently. So, I concocted a new specialty: lasagna rolls! Served with a salad, it was a well-balanced, tasty meal that used up a lot of stuff in the fridge.



I started off by boiling the lasagna noodles 'til al dente, about 10 minutes or so. Then I spread each noodle with ricotta cheese and a layer of pesto.*


Some of my favorite things all together: pesto, cheese, pasta, Cookie Monster.


After the noodles were filled, I rolled them up and placed them seam-side down into a little individual baking dish.


Then I must've dumped some tomato sauce over the top and grated on some parmesan cheese. I don't remember doing this, but it was a few weeks ago. Plus, it sounds like something I would do. The sauce had probably been sitting in the fridge for a while and screamed, "Use me! I taste delicious! I will go with your pasta dish quite well!" when I opened the fridge door. And really, how can you refuse a desperate cry like that? So I used the tomato sauce.

I then baked them at a moderate temp--probably 350 or so, 'til they warmed through and the cheese melted.


Here is the salad I served alongside the pasta. I can't remember what I put in it. But let's look at this photo and play a fun game called "Guess What's in this Salad." It'll be fun, I promise.

Ok, it looks like we have the following in this VCK salad: spinach, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, carrots, avocado and pepperoncini. Hey, that sounds pretty good! I also made a very typical VCK vinaigrette. This is my stand-by dressing. It's a balsamic vinaigrette with mustard. Very simple and it goes with just about anything.

See? Wasn't that game fun?



And this is how the lasagna rolls turned out. Yumilicious, right? Well, you can't tell how they tasted from this picture. But they were good. Trust me.



*So I have a confession to make. Forgive me, cooking gods, for I have sinned. It has been a zillion days since my last confession. For this dish, I used... Well, it's difficult to talk about. I used... a powdered pesto mix. I know this is in bad culinary form, but hey, it's winter, and there's nary a fresh basil leaf to be found. So I bought this mix and added olive oil to it. In a pinch, you gotta do what you gotta do. The dish was delicious, powdered mix or not.
Please don't tell. It'll be our little secret. ;)

Pumpkin Ravioli

Finally, a post that's not about chicken! For this venture, I decided to make homemade ravioli. I guess they're not completely technically homemade, since I cheated and used wonton skins for the wrappers. But hey, they're more homemade than opening a plastic package and dumping.

Since Cookie Monster was gone, I made it pumpkin ravioli, which sounds weird, because when people think of pumpkin, they automatically think pie. But pumpkin is just another type of squash, and it goes just as well with savory things as it does with sweet. Cookie Monster hates squash in all its incarnations (that crazy boy! Oh well. More for me), so I took this opportunity to make something just for moi.

*Sorry for the crappy photography. I'm still pretty inept with the camera. :(

Here we have our little ravioli-making station. I'm so type-A. That filling is canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling--just pumpkin), ricotta cheese, a little nutmeg and good ol' S&P. I think I threw some of that grated parmesan into the filling too. I have no idea why that thermometer was in the shot. Wait, yes I do! I was making the roast chicken the same night. Wow, I was being really industrious that day!

To fill the wonton wrappers, get a little bit of filling. Don't put too much in there, or it will seep out and make your ravioli explode in the boiling water, and then you'll cry. So don't overfill. After depositing the small amount of filling, brush the corners with water or a little egg wash (I was lazy and went with the water this time) and moosh the edges together 'til they're stuck. And here we have a little ravioli! Isn't he cute?

Ok, so tecnically the shape isn't ravioli. I wanted them to be a little smaller, so after I folded over the corners, I applied a little more water and stuck each corner together. So I guess they're tortellini? Tortelloni? Cinderelli? Whatever, they're filled pasta.


The most time-consuming part is just filling the suckers. Once you throw them in the (salted) boiling water, they cook up in about 2-3 minutes. And make sure you watch 'em! They'll float to the top, which means, "Hey! I'm done! This water is hot! Get me outta here!" And if you don't listen, they'll get so hot they explode, filling your water, not your tummy, with delicious filling, and then you'll cry. So watch 'em good!

With filling this flavorful, you don't want anything too complicated when it comes to sauce. Some melted butter and parmesan works very nicely. See?




Aaagggghhh.

I steamed up some green beans over the boiling water (two birds with one stone! I like it!) and cut off a slice of amazing New Seasons olive ciabatta bread, spread with just a tich of butter.

Along with a nice glass of pinot grigio, this meal was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. I would've paid probably $15 or so at a fancy-pants restaurant, plus another $6 for the wine, plus I wouldn't have been able to watch TV or eat in my pajamas while dining. It was a winner all-around!